Tesla CEO Elon Musk present Hyperloop transport system project

Elon Musk has revealed the plans for his Hyperloop mode of transportation, a futuristic, high-speed, low-impact, self-sustaining and immune to weather and seismic irregularities mode of transport.

The proposed transport system would be used for distances less than 1500km apart, the primary role being to greatly decrease travel time between major cities.

The basic premise of the system involves electric-powered passenger-pods travelling through a tube system. The pod would use fans at both the front and the rear of it in order to transfer high-pressure air from the front to the rear so as to allow the pod to break the Kantrowitz Limit – a law governing the top speed a pod can travel in ratio to the tube it is in.

The electric power would come from a motor similar to the one already used in the Tesla Model S, but rolled flat so as to fit inside the pod. The top of the tube will be covered in solar panels which would generate enough electricity to operate the Hyperloop even at night or during extended periods of cloudy weather.

During the proposal, Musk revealed a convincing critique of current modes of transport but he doesn’t consider that boats, cars, plains and trains are redundant; his involvement with the automotive industry would prove this. He also spent some time justifying the legitimacy of supersonic planes when it comes to traveling across large distances, but when it comes to journeys under 1500km, that is where a new mode of transportation makes sense.

Over that distance a supersonic plane wouldn’t make sense, cars would take a lot of time and high-speed train project require exorbitant costs and pose many safety risks.

Musk plans to publish his proposal so that interested parties can improve upon it and while it might sound overly futuristic, one has to keep in mind that Musk sold his first computer program at age 12, co-founded PayPal and has become a billionaire in the time since, so the man has some impressive credentials on his side.